


Better in Stereo

by bram101_princessladybug



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Adult Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adult Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - Radio, Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Disney References, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Inspired by Disney, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, no Hawkmoth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:26:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28574487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bram101_princessladybug/pseuds/bram101_princessladybug
Summary: Marinette felt stuck.School was fine, her extracurriculars were okay. Baking with her parents was fun. Her fashion internship with Gabriel was tough. Good, but tough.But she wasn’t fulfilled. She wasn’t doing anything for herself, and all the things she tried to get into just backfired on her. After toppling out of a handstand and into Alya and Luka at yoga and causing a domino-effect of fallen yogis, she had decided that anything involving coordination was out. She didn’t have the patience to write, she couldn’t sit through town hall meetings at the city, and volunteering just wasn’t enough. Nothing was working.Until one day, she turned on the radio as she drove home from her internship.“And welcome back to Chats with Chat Noir, your paw-some source for punny Disney memes and the latest mews about animated shows.”---Chat and Marinette flirt over radio waves, and shenanigans ensue.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 10
Kudos: 63





	Better in Stereo

**Author's Note:**

> This was a bit of a crazy idea I had while listening to podcasts. None of this is accurate to actual radio shows procedures/culture, but is mostly taken from my imagination. Let me know what you think in the comments below and feel free to spill more Disney tea with me!

##  Turn Up the Music 

“Hello, and welcome to Chats with Chat Noir, your source for puns, jokes, animated show commentary, and generalized super-fun times.” 

A higher voice snickered, softly and smoothly. “Super-fun times? Real modest and mature, Kitty.” 

“Excuse you, I’m always modest! And folks, as you can hear, today we’re featuring our now-regular guest: Ladybug! She’s the host of _Love from Ladybug_ and an employee at Miraculous Fashions.” A beat. “And the love of my life.” 

“Chaaat.” Muffled whispers and bickering ensued, until Ladybug’s voice rang out. “I’m only a regular to keep you in line, chaton.” 

“Oh, please, my lady, you’re just jealous of my pun-derful mastery.” 

A hint of laughter underlay Ladybug’s tone. “Mastery of what? Making a fool of yourself?” 

“You’re a converted pun and anime-lover, admit it.”

“If anything, I’m a supermodel lover.” Ladybug’s voice deepened flirtatiously. “And I never needed to be converted to that.” 

A loud gulp could be heard before Chat spoke again. “A-and I’m a pigtail lover and a designer lover. Who knew?” he crooned. 

Giggles from Ladybug. “You only want me on the show so I can pet your head like the cat you are inside, admit it.” 

“Oh, I will indeed admit it—hey, stop tickling me!” 

“But you’re so fun to tease.” 

“You wound me, my Lady, my darling, my sunshine, light of my—mmph!” 

A long pause. 

“And now it’s time for a quick ad break, hmm, chaton?” 

Chat Noir sounded like he was gasping for breath. “Couldn’t agree more, bugaboo.” 

\------

_A Few Months Before_

Marinette felt stuck. 

School was fine, her extracurriculars were okay. Baking with her parents was fun. Her fashion internship with Gabriel was tough. Good, but tough. 

But she wasn’t fulfilled. She wasn’t doing anything for herself, and all the things she tried to get into just backfired on her. After toppling out of a handstand and into Alya and Luka at yoga and causing a domino-effect of fallen yogis, she had decided that anything involving coordination was out. She didn’t have the patience to write, she couldn’t sit through town hall meetings at the city, and volunteering just wasn’t enough. Nothing was working. 

Until one day, she turned on the radio as she drove home from her internship. 

“And welcome back to Chats with Chat Noir, your paw-some source for punny Disney memes and the latest mews about animated shows.” 

Marinette raised her eyebrows and stifled the beginnings of a smile. 

On the radio, Chat continued to speak. “Remember Cars? They turned that into a movie with people, and it’s called Ford v. Ferrari, baby. Starring the Martian himself.” He paused. “But fur real, Cars should have won an Oscar. I mean, Thor and Cars have the exact same plot, basically, am I right?” 

She had snorted despite herself and turned the sound up. Alya, sitting in the passenger seat, looked over and noticed Marinette’s genuine smirk. “Hey, I didn’t know you liked comedy,” she noted. 

Marinette bit her lip and arched her eyebrows. “Is this really comedy, though?” she teased. 

Alya straightened her glasses and adjusted her press badge, which she always left pinned on her sweater. “I mean, people seem to think so. Chats with Chat is a newer show on this channel, and it’s gotten super popular. Some of the reporters on the arts and culture beat have been trying to cover it, but the Chat Noir guy is weirdly super mysterious. Apparently, he wears masks and doesn’t divulge his identity to anyone. Only his sound guy, Nino, knows who he is, and he isn’t talking, damn it!” Marinette knew how frustrating it could be for Alya to admit she didn’t know something, and so she nodded understandingly as Alya curled her hands into fists before forcing herself to relax. “But we’ll put up with anything for a cute voice, huh? Guess we’re all just secret Disney fans.” 

Marinette shrugged. “Guess so, but I mean, I get why people like it; this Chat person is just so…ridiculous.” The girls tilted their heads as they listened to Chat make a Tangled pun. “But he’s kinda adorable, too!” As she gestured vaguely toward the dashboard of the car, Marinette’s eyes widened, flashing with delight. “Aw, listen, he sounds so excited to talk about Disney.” 

Alya shifted and put an arm on the side of Marinette’s seat. “So, are you a Disney fan, or a fan of men who love Disney?” She raised an eyebrow and dipped her chin, smirking. 

Marinette whacked Alya on the back of the head as Alya chuckled and swatted at her hands. “ALYA, stop! You can’t just crush on a random person from hearing their voice! And he sounds like an absolute nerd. It doesn’t even matter anyway; my heart’s already taken, you know that—” 

“By Adrien Agreste,” mocked Alya in a singsong voice. “Dreeaamy, carefreeee, radiaaaant—” 

“Heyy, I was fifteen!” 

“EXACTLY! And you’re STILL crushing on him! The boy was homeschooled all his life. He probably hasn’t met an actual human person. And his dad is sort of…creepy and intimidating. No offence, I know he’s your fashion idol,” she muttered. 

“EXACTLY!” replied Marinette, mimicking Alya’s tone. “His dad probably isn’t that loving, so Adrien deserves all the love he gets. He’s so kind to all his fans, and he donates a lot of money to a bunch of amazing charities. And he adopts lots of animals from the shelter. Especially cats. He loves cats, ohmigosh, and—” 

“I would do all that, too, if I was loaded,” snickered Alya. 

Marinette looked over at Alya and frowned. “Oh, now, don’t mock.” 

Alya schooled her expression immediately. “Wouldn’t dare.” 

Marinette snorted at Alya’s faked expression of obedience, and the two girls cracked up before Marinette returned to her favorite topic: Adrien. Alya nodded as helpfully as she could while Marinette wistfully gushed about the model. 

“Not a lot of rich people are like Adrien,” Marinette continued, building her defense for him. “He’s kind and he’s popular and he’s handsome, too! And besides, Adrien isn’t that rich. He’s no Mayor Bourgeois, or Chloe.” 

Alya tilted her head. “Maybe so. But girl, you NEED to move on. And Luka doesn’t count.” 

Marinette swallowed hard. “Luka deserved better.” 

Alya squeezed Marinette’s forearm as they stopped at a light. “That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve someone, too.” 

That night, Marinette googled Chats with Chat Noir, and she encountered some recordings of his shows on the radio’s website. 

Sure enough, the one at the top of the page opened on his smooth voice as it detailed his reasons behind his secrecy and addressed the curiosity of his listeners. 

“Now, I know that you all at heart are like me: curious cats,” he began, and Marinette could picture a boy winking at an audience as he sat behind a microphone. “But I must purr-litely ask you to refrain from seeking my identity.” 

For a moment, Marinette let herself consider what he might look like. She pictured thick glasses, an unruly mop of hair, and a wide, nervous smile. Was he a blond, like Adrien? 

“You see, I have to keep it a secret…as a purr-sonal purr-eference.” She could hear him swallow through the sensitive microphones. He seemed truly guilty for having to hide his identity, and she wondered at his reasons. “I’m sorry, I hate that it’s like this, but this show is too important to me to lose. You all are so wonderful, and I love getting to know all the callers on my show and all of you who write letters and send emails, but I’m afraid I can’t purr-omise more than the name of Chat Noir. It’s all part of my paw-some bad luck, I must say.” He paused, and Marinette could feel him frown through the recording. She was impressed by how he could convey his emotions so well through nothing but audio. 

“But trust me,” he continued, “the guy behind this mask isn’t that cool or interesting or even all that real. Chat Noir is the real me, and I’m honored to share that side of me with all of you.” 

His honesty and need were touching, and Marinette promised herself that she wouldn’t look more into his identity, although, she had to admit, she was rather curious. But curiosity had killed the cat after all. 

She didn’t want to ruin this silly Kitty. 

She spent the rest of that night listening to all the recordings on the website, and that morning, when she and Alya carpooled to their respective internships, the bags under her eyes couldn’t be ignored. 

“What the HECK, Mari?” 

“What the HECK, Alya?” 

“Okay, okay, time out. What did you do all last night?” 

Marinette slammed the brakes as a light in front of her turned red. Swearing, she retrieved her sunglasses from a compartment and slid them on her nose to block the too-bright sunlight. “Hmmm?” 

“What. Did. You—” 

Marinette bit her lip. “All right, all right. I watched all those videos.” 

“Those videos?”

“The ones of Chat!” 

Pursing her lips, Alya frowned at Marinette. Marinette flinched, awaiting the onslaught she knew she should receive. But instead, Alya reached forward and turned on the radio. 

And Chat’s voice greeted them both. 

Marinette’s eyes popped open. “His show is on now?” 

Alya nodded. “He does late mornings on Thursdays.” 

Marinette’s lips parted in surprise as Chat made another Disney pun. 

After a couple of minutes, he shifted to a new topic. “So, folks, I know that you all love to hear me yammer on, but the truth is—I want to hear you. I’m opening it up to callers now! Come and chat with me about anything and everything.” He listed out the number to call, and Marinette couldn’t help but feel her heart kick into higher gear. Little did she notice that Alya had punched in the number already and was holding the phone to her ear. 

A couple of callers came and went, and Marinette had begun to zone out a bit until Chat’s voice rose. “Thank you, Laura. And now, our next caller is on the line. State your name for our audience, if you please.” 

“Say something!” Alya hissed, holding her phone out with the speaker button depressed. 

Marinette narrowed her eyes in confusion. “What?” 

“I’m sorry,” replied Chat’s voice, both over her car speakers and through the phone speakers, reverberating through the air. “Could you repeat that?” 

Muttering angrily under her breath, Marinette swung her car over to the side of the road and cut out her engine. She snatched the phone from Alya and held it up to her ear. “HELLO? HI, THIS IS MARINETTE!” 

Chat chuckled indulgently. “First time calling, Marinette?” 

Marinette fumbled for words. “Ugh, agh uhm, no! I mean, YES! Yes, this is my first time calling a radio show. I-I wasn’t much for listening to the radio before I found your show, to be honest,” she managed, calming herself down. 

“Ah, the puns converted you?” 

Marinette smirked. “I think it was more like I had to overcome the puns to keep listening.” She felt Alya silently laugh next to her and wink encouragingly. Taking comfort from her confident friend, she took a deep breath. “Wherever do you find the time to purrrr-fect so many of them?” 

At that, Chat burst out laughing, and Marinette was taken by his genuine reaction. “A punning lady after my own heart. So, my Lady, what are your thoughts about the new Beauty and the Beast?” 

Marinette rolled her eyes at Chat’s flattery and sighed. “To be quite honest…I love Emma Watson with all my soul, but why did they autotune her so much? It really takes away from the magic that you always feel when you hear a Disney song, you know? And worse, why did they CGI Dan Stevens? Give me the ‘Beauty and Dan Stevens in a grey bag’ movie, I’d prefer that!” she huffed, warming to her theme. 

“Oh my God, I would kill to see that unedited footage! And you’re very right; they did Hermione dirty. And the handsome Mr. Stevens, of course.” 

Marinette jolted up in her seat. “Hermione! Much of a Harry Potter fan, are we?”

“Love the movies,” purred Chat. “And Alan Rickman as Snape.” 

“Harry Potter,” mimicked Marinette in a gravelly voice, sending Chat into another bout of laughter. “I mean, you can hear him thinking, ‘What if Lily’d slept with me instead, god dang it?’” 

“But not going to lie...Draco and Harry was the superior ship to end all ships.” 

“How much fanfic did you read?” teased Marinette knowingly. 

“Why, got something against it?” 

Marinette crossed her arms, feeling bold. “Why, think you can beat my high score for most Harry Potter fics read ever?” she accused. 

Chat chuckled again, his deep voice sending trickles of warmth down Marinette’s spine. “Wouldn’t think to question the master, Marinette.” 

Marinette, however, was now long gone into a rant. “But, as with all my problems for most movies…where are the people of color?” 

“That’s facts. Disney’s got a very problematic, horrifying history, and a couple of background characters aren’t really going to cut it. And for Harry Potter…Didn’t they have Parvati and Cho or whoever?” 

“Exactly! You can’t even remember their names, and ‘Cho or whoever’s’ only job was to be Harry’s crush. Not enough for me.” 

Marinette could hear him snap his fingers through the microphone, as if he were giving her applause. “Respect. Clearly, media representation of diversity…huge, huge issue.” 

She nodded emphatically. “Mmhmm! Time to support more movies that center non-white characters. They deserve the love.” 

“Damn, you’re right. I really do need to update my watch list.” Chat took a deep breath, and Marinette realized that she and Chat had been talking for far longer than he spoke with most callers. “Well, Marinette, I truly am sorry, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut our conversation short.” He sounded sincere, and Marinette felt the same way. She had liked talking to the boy behind the microphone, and she wished that they hadn’t been interrupted. 

“You and your puns and your opinions are more than welcome on our podcast,” Chat continued. “Any time you’d like.” 

“I appreciate the offer very much, Monsieur Chat. You’re a great friend to have.” 

He hesitated, seemingly surprised by her words. Did he have many friends outside of this show? “I mean it, Marinette. I really do.” 

She laughed awkwardly to release the tension caused by the intensity of his words. “You know, I think that’s the longest you’ve gone without a cat pun for a while.” 

“Tabulating my pun rates? So you’re a real stalker fan of mine, huh, Purr-incess?” Chat sounded pleased, and she could picture him wiggling his eyebrows up and down like the silly little tease he was. 

Marinette figured it was time to even the playing field. “Well, what can I say? I’m a fan of purrrrrfectly ridiculous Kitties with no sense of humor.” 

“Oh, really, Mari? That’s harsh, coming from my number one fan.” 

Marinette huffed and crossed her arms. “Pfft, number one fan? Don’t count your fans before they…” 

“Hatch?” finished Chat, at the same time Marinette said, “Admit to actually being one.”  
There was a moment of silence, as both contemplated the other’s response. 

Marinette broke the silence first and snickered. “Bye-bye, Kitty-cat.” 

“G-goodbye, lovely Princess,” he stammered back, and Marinette relished the feeling of teasing him enough to unsettle him. 

Marinette ended the call with a confident grin and turned to meet the gaze of a shocked Alya head-on. Alya goggled at Marinette, lips parted slightly, before snatching her phone back. 

“What?” 

“Damn, Marinette. You’ve got game.”

\---- 

The internship had not gone well today. 

Gabriel had sent her team’s work back four times in the final hour, and she was sick of staring at her prototype designs. Frustrated, Marinette climbed into her car and banged her head into her steering wheel, making her little car let out a long, forlorn honk. “UGHHHH!” 

Alya had already gotten home, and at this rate, Marinette wouldn’t get back to her flat until well past dinnertime. 

Huffing, she put on her seatbelt and looked up through the windshield to meet a pair of green glowing eyes, floating in the darkness. 

“AAAH!” she screamed. 

“AAAH! I mean, uh, ah, hi, Marinette!” The boy waved, and Marinette flushed as she recognized him. 

“Dreamy, carefree, radiant…I MEAN, ADRIEN AGRESTE! YOU’RE ADRIEN!” She tried to turn off her engine and roll down her windows, and instead succeeded in turning on the windshield wipers, watching in horror as they slashed across the glass. Adrien reared back in amused surprise, and Marinette wished that the Earth could just swallow her up. True, she had applied for the Gabriel internship partly to potentially see Adrien, but that didn’t mean that she had actually expected to see her long-time crush in the flesh! She fumbled to lower the windows, and after turning the headlights on and off repeatedly, managed to open a window partway. She’d call that a victory. 

“Adrien Agreste,” she managed, lowering her voice to a humane volume. “W-What are you mewing—doing here?” 

Adrien tilted his head with a smile and raised an eyebrow. “Mewing?” 

Marinette sighed and shoved her face into the steering wheel again, wishing she hadn’t googled a list of cat-related puns last night. “Please pretend to never have heard that.” 

“But it was such a lovely cat pun,” he teased, and Marinette looked up to meet his eyes, surprised and blushing. 

“W-well, y-you d-didn’t question my original answer. I MEAN, answer my original question. What are you—” here she gestured to his full frame in all its model glory—“Doing here?” 

Adrien bit his lip. “As in…on Earth?” 

Marinette squinted at him suspiciously. The innocent golden baby boy of Paris, making a joke? Did he have a secret streak of humor in him? “More like…in front of my car, ready to get run over?” 

Adrien crossed his arms and tilted his head playfully. “Yes, it’s a shame you saw me before you could.” 

Marinette raised an eyebrow, a bit concerned. She was no stranger to bleak humor, but something about his tone surprised her. 

Misunderstanding her hesitation, Adrien shook his head, expression composed and suddenly businesslike. “Sorry about that. Bit of humor. Thought it would make you feel more comfortable…must just be one too many late nights.” He shook his head again, as if clearing it, and Marinette felt as if she’d lost something valuable as she watched his face smooth over. “I’m sorry…Marinette, right?” 

She nodded, slowly realizing that this visit must be for something Gabriel-related. “Yes, that’s right. Is there something your father wanted?” 

Adrien flinched at the word “father,” and Marinette’s eyes widened. “I mean…not that you need to have a reason related to your father, necessarily. You can talk to me whenever you’d like. I MEAN, you do other stuff for the company. I mean—” 

He held out a hand with a stifled smile and shook his hair out of his eyes with a rueful toss of his head. “No, no. You were right. My father—” he winced, swallowing hard, before clearing his throat and starting again. “My father just wanted to ask you if you could come in a bit earlier tomorrow, like five minutes before your normal start time, and talk to him about something.” 

Marinette groaned, temporarily forgetting that Adrien would most likely report their full conversation back to his father. “Oh my gosh, it’s probably about that stupid prototype of that dress that we’ve been working on all evening, oh my gosh he’s going to fire me, oh my gosh I just called something related to him stupid—” 

The ghost of a smirk returned to Adrien’s face. “Don’t worry, you wouldn’t be the first to do that last one.” He knelt down by her window, folding in his tall frame to be closer to her. “And I don’t think it’s for something bad!” he added reassuringly. “If it was, there wouldn’t be any warning, and certainly not from someone as dashingly handsome as me, don’t you fret.” He winked, and Marinette felt the back of her neck go red. 

She laughed, despite herself, and she thought she could catch a satisfied smile on Adrien’s face before it was carefully cleared away. He was like an Etch-a-Sketch, she mused. Always erasing whatever he’d written on his face. “So I’m in the clear.” 

“It would seem so.” He stepped back from her car and saluted her, making her giggle again, even as she blushed. “Au revoir, milad—Marinette!” His face suddenly was tinged with pink, and she was thrown by the adorable vision of Adrien blushing that she missed his verbal slip-up completely. Smiling nervously, she waved back at Adrien as she began to edge her car forward. 

“Until next time!” he called out to her as he spun around and returned back to the building. As he climbed back up the steps at the front of the building, he paused and peeked back over his shoulder at her moving car. 

“My friend,” he breathed, hopeful. 

\-------------

“It turned out that he wanted to put me in charge of the whole project, and that he was impressed by all my alterations!” Marinette squealed the next evening, as she and Alya carpooled home. 

Alya pumped her fist. “Yes, girl! I’m so proud of you.” Lifting up her can of Sprite, she began a toast. “To your future!” 

Marinette smiled without taking her eyes off of the road. “To our futures.” She mimed holding a drink, and the girls laughed as they bumped their hands together. 

“So you went with your friend to interview Nino?” asked Marinette after a short silence. 

Alya straightened her glasses, oddly nervous. “Yeah, girl, I did.” 

Marinette gestured with a hand. “And?” 

“Uh…wellll,” drawled Alya. “Turns out that he is kind of…” 

“Kind of? Kind of what? Aw, Alya, give me something—” 

“HOT. Girl, he was smoking, and I did not expect that. Weren’t sound guys supposed to be awkward nerds?” 

“Hey, people can be hot and awkward nerds.” 

“Like your little ‘Kitty-cat’?” teased Alya, nudging Marinette’s arm with a big grin. 

“Shut up, Alya!” 

“Well, you’re the one who told us that we had to make this drive at this EXACT time…” Alya pointed out, widening her eyes meaningfully. “And by my watch, Chat’s show will be starting in a couple of minutes!” 

“W-whatever, Alya! Just tell me your Nino story.” 

“There was no story! That was the problem. We asked to talk to him, he was all smiles and flirts and awkward but cute, and I thought we could do this, and then he didn’t answer a single question once we mentioned Chat’s name! So…” 

Marinette raised an eyebrow. “So?” 

Alya adjusted her glasses guiltily. “So…I kind of lost my cool.” 

“No, Alya!” 

“I know, I know…I’m working on it! But—wait, Chat’s on!” Alya reached forward to twist the volume knob, and Chat’s voice filtered through the car. 

“Purr-incesses, Purr-inces, and all cat-pun-loving folk, welcome to today’s iteration of Chats with Chat Noir! I’m your unruly but drop-dead handsome host, Chat Noir, and today, we’ll be discussing…” 

Marinette giggled. “He’s real modest, huh?” 

Alya smirked. “Girl, just admit you like him, c’mon already!” 

Marinette laughed. “No way! He’s a doofus.” 

She kept listening, drowning out her fears with the sound of his voice. 

\-----

Chat loved his job. He loved his topics, he loved his callers, and most importantly, he loved his puns. 

He leaned forward into the mic, flipping through his lists of talking points and puns. “And, now, for the claw-some audience participation portion!” He flipped to a new page of notes. “Today,” he began with a wink, hoping that a physical action could be conveyed across soundwaves, “We have a special challenge! The first caller to answer this question correctly gets a free chance—” He cleared his throat and took a deep breath to steady his nerves, looking up to meet Nino’s eyes for support. “T-to tour my studio, with me, your masked host, as your guide.” 

He paused, feeling the anticipation rise in his listeners, even though he couldn’t actually see them. Nino adjusted a switch and gave him a reassuring thumbs up and wink, supportive despite his misgivings about the prize. Chat gave him a half-smile before turning back to the microphone. 

He hesitated, read out the challenge question, listed out the number to call, and waited, hoping. 

“Ah! Our first caller! Please state your name for the—” 

“A cricket!” shouted a familiar voice. 

“Uh…I mean, yes, nice job, but—” 

“Because,” continued the voice, lowering their volume, “although you’d think it should be a Ladybug, because ladybugs are lucky, in this case, the cricket is lucky for Mulan, and it’s sometimes seen as a symbol of luck in China. Am I right? Do I get to—” 

“Who ARE YOU?” interrupted Chat with a smile, knowing full well what the answer already was. 

“Oh! Oh my, I’m so sorry. This is Marinette. Marinette from the other day? Marinette Dupain-Cheng who talked about Harry Potter and Beauty and the Beast? Marinette, your friend? Marinette—” 

Chat chuckled. “Marinette, I remember you, and it is purr-onderful to hear your meow. I’ve missed it.” 

Marinette snickered. “Oh, really? I didn’t realize I’d made such an impact on your bad-punning kitty-cat ears.” 

Chat smiled, playing with one of the ears on his headband. She wouldn’t know, but he was dressed the part of a cat, with a black mask, black leather jacket, and black felt cat ears on his head to top off the look. “My cat ears burn to hear your sweet purr, milady.” 

“My goodness, you are a flirt,” concluded Marinette with such confidence that Chat had to laugh. 

“I have to impress the lady. If there’s anything I’ve learned from Disney, after all…” he teased, letting his voice trail off, as he played with the end of a leather belt he had fashioned into a tail. 

Marinette laughed openly. “Sing her a song and she’ll fall in love?” 

Chat sighed. “I knew you’d be tempted to hear me sing, Mari. All the lovely ladies do. Don’t worry, darling, I’ll meow you a serenade one day. Maybe when I’m saving your life, as any good knight in shining armor ought to do?” 

“Pfft! I’d rather take my chances with a villain than hear you sing, Kitty.” They laughed together, her chuckle sweet and pure, before Marinette remembered the original reason why she’d called. “But was I right? Did I answer the challenge correctly? Do I—get the prize?” Her voice hitched on the final words. 

Chat nodded, simultaneously realizing that nodding wasn’t something Marinette could hear. “Yes, you were. Congrats, mademoiselle, you win a private, purrsonally-guided tour by yours truly through the studio. Excited?” 

“You bet!” Marinette sounded a bit breathless and distracted, and Chat wondered if there was anyone else in the car with her. “Thanks for the op-purr-tunity!” 

“Any time, pretty Princess.” 

“You don’t know that I’m pretty.” 

He tapped his lips in thought. “I know you’ve got a lovely heart.” 

“Well, I suppose you’ll find out if my heart matches my face when you meet me.” 

“I doubt I’ll be disappointed, Princess. You ought to have more faith in yourself.” He hesitated, torn between revealing himself to her and maintaining his privacy, as he settled on his parting words. He leaned closer to the microphone, gripping it tightly between two leather-clad hands. “I know that I’ll always believe in you, Marinette.” 

Meanwhile, Marinette was being accosted by an ecstatic Alya, who was rattling her by the shoulders. “You have to tell me EVERYTHING!” Alya ordered. 

Marinette, in between gasps, managed a response. “I’ll confirm if Nino’s hot.”  
\------- 

The fateful day arrived, and Marinette was not ready for it. 

Well, she was ready in the most basic sense of the word. Last night, she and Alya had parked themselves on the couch with some wine and picked out the best outfit to wear when meeting a “dreamy Disney prince” (Alya’s words) or a “silly cat-boy” (Marinette’s). They had laughed and theorized and planned and teased while polishing off amounts of alcohol that would leave Marinette with a headache the next morning. 

Marinette had modelled while Alya teasingly catcalled her (“who is this Goddess standing before me? My heart! I am blinded by your beauty!”), and Alya planned out her apology to Nino while Marinette roleplayed his responses (“Oh, my darling Alya, you’re so beautiful, I’m just going to kiss you and tell you Chat’s identity and marry you on the spot”). Alya had decided that Chat would show up in a disguise, and Marinette wondered aloud what to wear when one’s tour guide would not be identifiable. 

“Honestly, Mari, just show up naked. Then you can bang him and not be shy about it—” 

Marinette whirled around in outrage, nearly tripping over the hem of her latest dress. “Alya! No!” 

Alya took a slow sip of her wine. “Oh, c’mon, girl. Own the fact that you’d look great. And the fact that you do kind of want him. Maybe you could even figure out his identity!” 

“Als, I am not going to sleep with an unknown stranger in a random radio station, and certainly not to figure out his identity, when he said he wants to be anonymous!” Alya’s shoulders slumped. “And especially not with this stranger whose last words of the evening were, and I quote: ‘Stay cool, don’t get frozen, and remember, always search for the simba-lism in Disney! Kitty out!’” Marinette mimicked a cat swiping a paw, sticking out her tongue and crossing her eyes to emphasize the silliness of the pose. 

At that, the girls burst out laughing, and Mari flopped onto the couch with a smile and kicked off the latest pair of heels she was testing. In the background, Disney music played in honor of Chat, and she smiled fondly at memories of her and her friends as they screamed along to Disney songs in the car on long drives. 

Alya propped her head on her fist and leaned closer to Mari. “Well, you know what they say?” 

Mari shoved her head into Alya’s lap. “What?” 

“The worse the puns, the better they are in bed—AUGH! Don’t tickle me!” 

“Then take it back!” Marinette giggled as she continued her fierce tickle attack. “No one even says that, you nasty!” 

Alya grabbed a pillow and smacked it against Marinette’s face. “Not till you admit you want him!” 

“No way!” retorted Marinette, as she fumbled for her own pillow. “No freaking way, Chat is just a friend, and I just want to see where he makes the magic of the show, that’s all!” 

Alya wiggled her eyebrows mischievously. “And you want to make some magic with him, too, hmm?” Suddenly, she paused and held out a hand to stop Marinette from tackling her. “Oh, wait, wait! This song—this song is the best!” 

Marinette halted her attack and tilted her head, eyes widening as she recognized the song. “I’m Gabriella, you’re Troy, let’s do this.” She grabbed a hairbrush from the table and began to sing. Laughing, Alya soon joined in, and the girls sang their way past their nerves as they flipped their hair and leaned dramatically against the kitchen countertop. 

Then, she had thought she would be ready. But now, as she settled into her car and drove to the address that had been emailed to her? Marinette realized how not-ready she was. 

Automatically, she flicked on the radio, and she was greeted with the drone of the traffic report. Realizing that she’d hoped for Chat’s voice, she punched off the radio, yanking her hand away quickly as if her dashboard had burned her. 

“Yikes,” she whispered, clutching the wheel. She was just a fan, just a friend, and it was just a radio station. “C’mon, Mari, it’s just Chat. I’m not going to be weirdly nervous to meet a silly Kitty. He’s definitely a nerd.” 

She continued her self-inspirational chant as she parked her car and stepped into the tall building. Stepping past several offices decorated with fairy lights, she strode up to the information desk. 

“Hi,” she began, removing her mittens. “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I’m here for the tour of the studios with Chat Noir?” 

The redheaded receptionist flashed her a smile. “Down the hall to the left. He’ll be waiting.” 

Marinette bit her lip. “Thanks.” 

Her heels were cushioned against the carpeted floors, so she made no sound as she walked. Reaching the door that the receptionist had indicated, she knocked on it, hands shaking. 

The door flew open, and Marinette nearly fell face-first into a leather-clad chest. 

“Marinette! Welcome! I’m so glad to finally meet you,” the owner of the leather said, flashing Marinette a grin. He held out a gloved hand and waited politely for her to return his handshake. 

Marinette, meanwhile, stood with her mouth half-open as she took in the sight of the tall blonde, eyes shaded with sunglasses and outlined by a black mask, and slowly let her eyes trace down the lines of his leather outfit. Metal zippers accentuated his jacket. A Jagged Stone t-shirt clung tightly to his frame. 

And a golden bell lay at his collar. 

Overcoming her awe at once, Marinette bypassed his outstretched hand and gave the bell a little flick. It rang softly. 

Chat swallowed and managed to grin down at her. “Dig my outfit?” 

Marinette arched her eyebrows and tapped at the zipper on his jacket. “You do take this cat thing pretty far, don’t you?” 

“Well, I exude cat-itude. Or didn’t you notice?” 

Marinette snickered. “And do you require head scratches and belly rubs?” 

Chat nodded. “Now you’re cat-ching on. But there’s a cat-veat.” 

“Oh?” 

“The pets must be given by a beautiful Princess.” Smirking, he bowed his head, offering his golden locks to her, and Marinette resisted the urge to run her fingers through them. “Care to do the honors?”

She laughed instead. “Presumptuous and flirty. What a combination.”

He looked a bit abashed, flicking his eyes away from hers. “I really did mean it. The ‘beautiful’ part.” 

Surprised, Marinette smiled and tucked a lock of his hair behind his ears. “I believe you.” 

Chat raised his eyebrows and gestured forward, allowing her to step into the room. “Ready to believe and easily trusting, aren’t we?” he teased, flicking on a few switches to brighten the room. 

“Trust isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” noted Marinette, as she wandered around. She picked up a pair of cat ears and settled them on her head, turning back to Chat just in time to catch his smile. “Those who trust easily are perhaps more likely to love.” 

Chat leaned against the soundboard. “That doesn’t sound like a good thing. Easy love is often not worth the pain.” 

“Easy love and unworthy love are not necessarily synonymous,” argued Marinette, but she was distracted by the studio. 

“But quick love is far more likely to be disappointing,” replied Chat, his eyes shadowed by the sunglasses. 

“Easy love can be beautiful. The ease of the love can often be a metric for the ease of the rest of the relationship,” noted Marinette, returning the cat ears to the table. 

“Perhaps you’re right. Your propensity to love and care easily never fails to impress.” Chat smiled at her, and Marinette caught herself near a blush. Quickly looking away, she refocused on her surroundings. 

Chat tapped the soundboard. “Like what you see?” he teased. 

Marinette nodded, eyes not meeting his, as she meandered closer to him. “How does all this work?” 

“Nino can tell you more than I can, but these switches control my voice. And these ones here control the background tracks. Chats with Chat Noir uses a lot of Disney music, and those can be cued up at my signal.” He shifted closer to her with every word, and his breath ghosted against her ear. 

“It sounds complicated!” replied Marinette, impressed, as she tried to ignore the feeling of his warmth. 

“It is. I have the easy job, in comparison.” He flicked on another set of lights, and the soundproof room behind the soundboard lit up. 

Marinette’s eyes widened as she entered it. “Oh, is this your microphone?” 

Chat nodded, tossing his hair out of his eyes in a maneuver that felt familiar to Marinette, and seated himself on the rolling chair in front of it. He leaned into the microphone. “Hi, I’m Chat Noir, your host for tonight’s Disney extravaganza, and it is a purr-leasure to speak to you all.” He batted his eyelashes and winked. 

Marinette threw her head back and laughed. “Where do you keep all those puns? Locked up under that blonde hair?” she asked, tapping the side of his head with a teasing curl of her lips. “C’mon, tell me who your cat pun dealer is.” 

Chat felt his heart lurch at her touch. “Excuse you, I make mine fresh from the pun bakery in my brain, thank you very much.” 

Marinette tilted her head and crossed her arms. 

He sighed. “Okay, fine, not entirely. I keep track of them in here,” he admitted, tapping at a nearby binder with a gloved finger. “Even I can’t keep them all in my memory. I’m more of a purr-ty face, you know.” 

Marinette snatched up his binder and began to read. “Claw-ful? Purr-lease? A-paw-ling? Fur-midable? Kitten around? Feline good? Oh, there are some Disney ones here. Aladd-out of here? Keep it Poppins? Good lord!” She burst out laughing again. 

Chat leaned closer to read over her shoulder, before pointing at a line. “My favorite one is ‘Dis-knee-slapping’. Absolutely pun-derful, right?” 

Marinette craned her neck to look up at him with a playful frown. “Terrible. Every single time you pun, it’s terrible.” 

“Terribly punny, you mean?” he asked, returning her gaze with a smirk. 

Marinette snapped the binder shut. “No! Just terrible. But fur real, why do you like all these puns so much? This seems like more than just a humor thing.” 

Ignoring her query, Chat nervously adjusted the microphone and avoided her piercing gaze. “Want to say something into the mic?” 

“Sure.” She leaned forward. “Hello, world, this is Marinette! And she’s wondering why Chat’s so obsessed with claw-ful puns! Signing off, hoping you have a Poppins good day!” She giggled before levelling a glare at Chat. 

Chat groaned and rubbed his forehead. “Can’t I just say it’s an aesthetic thing?” 

“You could,” agreed Marinette, before stepping closer to him, forcing him to look down at her, his hair nearly brushing her eyelashes. “But I wouldn’t believe you.” She toyed with the cat ears on his head. 

He hesitated, before relenting. “My mother loved puns. She would make my father and me laugh so hard with them.” His gaze turned wistful. “You know, he doesn’t laugh at all now that she’s gone.” 

A short silence ensued, before Marinette’s words broke it. “Gone?” she echoed. 

Chat looked down at her with a jolt, as if he’d forgotten she was there. He gave her a soft pained smile. “She died when I was young.” 

Immediately, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “Oh, Chat, I’m so sorry.” Reaching out to touch his face, she wished she could remove his sunglasses and catalogue the shadows behind his eyes, press her lips to the lines at the corners of his eyes and remove his pain. 

But she couldn’t, she remembered, halting her hand midair. He wouldn’t want that, would he? Besides, she had no right to kiss him. She loved someone else. Someone else who had lost his mother at a young age, too. 

Shocked at her affection, Chat watched her hand move closer to him and resisted the urge to take it and press his lips to her fingers. She wouldn’t want that, would she? 

Both realized how close they were standing and suddenly yanked apart. 

Chat rubbed his neck and fought back his blush. “So, uh, want to see the rest of the studio? You can meet Nino, too.” 

Marinette, similarly, was trying to recover. “S-sounds great! I’m not stammering! Great! Nemo’s a great fish! Nino’s a great person! Yes!” 

Chat smiled and offered her an arm like an old-fashioned gentleman. “Shall we?” 

Marinette took it with a poorly concealed blush. “Yes, let’s shall. I mean, let’s go!” 

She met Nino, and she had to agree with Alya. He seemed very worried that she might try to figure out Chat’s identity. However, once she assured him she had no intention of doing so, he was far more friendly. 

More importantly, he was hot. Marinette thought she could see what Alya saw in him. 

\------

The next morning, Marinette, alone in the car for the day, turned on the radio, hopeful. 

“Today’s weather forecast…” droned the weatherman. Marinette sighed and reached to turn the radio off, before she heard a mention of rain. Rain? She hadn’t brought an umbrella! 

After a second, the weatherman’s speech concluded, and a new voice smoothly cut in. “Thanks for that, Jacques! Now, we’ve got a special announcement to make, from a very special guest. Take it away!” 

“Thanks, Don. Want to join the radio station? We’ve got a section that’s entirely college student-run, and we want you to apply to join us. Learn how to run a show, work the audio, plan events with us, or even run your own show! Honestly, I love working here—” 

Suddenly, Marinette realized that Chat was speaking. 

“Chat?” she asked, blushing and forgetting that he couldn’t hear her. 

“—Hope to see your applications! Check out our website for more. Byeeee!” he sang out, and Marinette snickered out loud. 

“Thank you,” added the main announcer, smoothly. “And that, folks, was Chat Noir, from Chats with Chat! Now—” 

“Wait! Wait one moment. I just have one final announcement to make.” Chat sounded breathless for some reason, and Marinette’s interest was piqued. 

“Uh, well, Chat—” began the announcer, before Chat interrupted. 

“Marinette, wherever you are…” he murmured, his voice lower than she’d ever heard it. “I hope you apply and join me here, too.” 

Marinette felt her jaw drop. Maybe he had heard her say his name in her car. Maybe she was hallucinating. Maybe he meant some other Marinette. 

But all she knew was that this was the beginning of something. She had found something that might fulfill her, and she knew she had to jump at the chance.


End file.
